Commentary
This verse is related to an event which came to pass in the battle of Badr. If this event is kept in sight before going to the detailed explanation of the verse, it will make it easy to understand.
What happened is that Muslims, when they won in the battle of Badr - the first confrontation of Kufr and Islam - they had some war spoils on their hands. Its distribution led to a state of affairs among the noble Companions which did not befit the high standard of sincerity and unity around which the whole life of these blessed souls was moulded. Therefore, it was within the very first verse, that the standing policy on this subject was settled for ever - so that, there remains nothing in the hearts of this group of people blessed with sanctity, except truth, sincerity, unity and sacrifice.
Details of this event have been reported in the Musnad of Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Mustadrak of Hakim and elsewhere in the words of Sayyidna ` Ubadah ؓ who was a participant in the battle of Badr. According to the report, someone asked Sayyidna ` Ubadah ibn Samit about the meaning of the word: al-anfal in the verse cited above. He said, 'This verse has,, of course, been revealed about us, .that is, about participants in the battle of Badr. This was in the background of some difference of opinion which arose among us as to the distribution of war spoils and which affected our moral conduct adversely. Then, through this verse, Allah Ta` ala took away the spoils from our hands and entrusted them with the Holy Prophet ﷺ who distributed them equally over all those who had participated in the Jihad of Badr.
The situation at the battle of Badr was that all of us marched out with the Holy Prophet ﷺ . It was after a tough fight between the two groups that Allah Ta` ala had the enemy defeated. At this
point, our forces were split in three sub-groups. Some pursued the enemy so that they would not come back. Some went on to collect spoils left by the disbelievers, while some others formed a cordon around the Holy Prophet ﷺ and kept guarding him against any surprise attack by the enemy in ambush somewhere. When fighting was over, the night came and everyone returned to home base, those who had collected spoils said: We have collected this booty, therefore, no one but us has a share in it. And those who had pursued the enemy said: You do not deserve it more than us because we were the ones who forced the enemy to retreat and run and which gave you the opportunity to collect spoils in peace . And those who remained standing around the Holy Prophet ﷺ to protect him said: If
we wanted to, we too could have joined you in collecting the spoils with you, but we devoted ourself to the task of seeing that the Holy Prophet ﷺ remains protected, so, we too are deserving of it.
This conversation among the Companions ؓ ultimately reached the Holy Prophet ﷺ whereupon this verse cited above was revealed. It made it very clear that the spoils belonged to Allah. There was none to own it or stake a claim over it, except the one to whom the Holy Prophet ﷺ would give it. As for the Holy Prophet ﷺ he distributed the spoils equally over all participants of the Jihad as ordained Divinely. (Ibn Kathir) Everyone was pleased with this decree of Allah and His Messenger - and naturally ashamed of the unbecoming state of affairs which arose between them because of their mutual approach to remain ahead of the others.
Also in the Musnad of Ahmad, reported there is another event which spells out the background in which this verse was revealed. It has been narrated by Sayyidna Sa'd ibn Abi Waggas ؓ . He says: ` My brother, ` Umayr fell a martyr in the battle of Badr. Out of the disbelievers who were arrayed against him, I killed Said ibn al-` As. I took his sword and presented myself before the Holy Prophet ﷺ I wished that this sword be given to me. But, the Holy Prophet ﷺ ordered me to deposit it with the spoils. I was duty-bound to obey his order, but my heart ached with the thought that my brother laid down his life in this Jihad and I killed the enemy confronting him and took possession of his sword, yet that too was taken away from me. However, despite this thought, I stepped forward to carry out the Commander's command and deposit the sword with the spoils. But, I had hardly gone far enough when this verse of Surah Al-Anfal was revealed to the Holy Prophet ﷺ who called me back and let me have this sword.' According to some other narrations, it is also reported that Sayyidna Sa'd ؓ had himself requested the Holy Prophet ﷺ that the particular sword be given to him, but he had said: ` This is not my property which I could give to someone, nor is this owned by you. Deposit it with the rest of the spoils. This matter will be decided in accordance with what Allah decrees.' (Ibn Kathir, Mazhari)
It is not unlikely that both these events may have come to pass and the verse may have been revealed in answer to both.
A detailed explanation of the verse:
Here, the word: انفال (al-anfal) is the plural of نفل nafl which means grace and reward. Nafl Salah, Sawm and Sadaqah are called Nafl because they are not compulsory or obligatory on anyone. Those who do these do so out of their free will. In the terminology of Qur'an and Sunnah, the words nafl and anfal are also used for spoils or booty obtained from the disbelievers at the time of Jihad. But, the Qur'an has used three words to carry this sense, that is, انفال : anfal, ghanimah and fai'. The word: anfal appears right here in the present verse. As for the word: غنیمہ ghanimah, its details will appear in verse 41 of this very Surah. Then, details relating to the word: is فییء fai' find mention in Surah Al-Hashr: وَمَا أَفَاءَ اللَّـهُ ; (and what Allah made His Messenger get - 59:6). The meanings of these three words differ with slight variation. Since the difference between them is slight, there are occasions when one word is used for the other to mean spoils in the absolute sense. Ghanimah generally carries the sense of booty obtained from the adversary through fighting in Jihad. Fai': is booty obtained from the disbelievers without active fighting and killing, whether they abandon it or agree to give it up voluntarily. Then, nafl and anfal are also used to refer to the reward which the Supreme Commander of Jihad may bestow upon a particular Mujahid in return for his exemplary performance. This meaning has been reported from Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ as in Tafsir Ibn Jarir. (Ibn Kathir) Then, there are occasions when spoils as such are also identified through the terms of nafl and anfal. In this verse, most commentators have gone by this very general meaning. The same general meaning has been reported from Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ in the Sahih of Al-Bukhari. The truth of the matter is that this word is used to carry both meanings, the general and the particular. Therefore, no difference exists here. And the best explanation in this connection has been given by Imam Abu ` Ubayd in his Kitab al-Amwal. He says: Lexically, nafl means grace, reward or gift - and it is a very special blessing of Allah Ta` ala bestowed upon the Muslim Ummah, the most fortunate recipients of His mercy - in that the properties obtained from disbelievers through fighting in Jihad were made lawful for Muslims. Otherwise, the practice did not exist among past communities. In fact, the law which governed spoils was that such property was not lawful for anyone. All spoils were collected and deposited at one place, then, a fire or lightening would come from the heavens and burn it up. This was supposed to be a sign indicating that the God-oriented fighting was acceptable in His sight. If spoils so collected and deposited were not burnt up by the lightening from the heaven, it was supposed to be a sign that the effort was not acceptable. Therefore, the later spoils were considered rejected and ill-omened because of which it was not used by anyone.
Based on a narration from Sayyidna Jabir ؓ عنہ appearing in Al Bukhari and Muslim, the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been reported to have said: I have been blessed with five things which were not given to any prophet or his community before me. One of the five is: اُحِلَّت لی الغنایم ولم تحل لاحد قبلی that is, 'made lawful for me are the spoils, though they were not lawful for anyone before me.'
The injunction of 'anfal' given in the cited verse is: "The spoils are for Allah and the Messenger." What it means is that its real ownership is that of Allah while the right of their disposal rests with the Messenger of Allah who distributes these in accordance with the command of Allah at his discretion.
Therefore, a group of leading authorities in Tafsir, with Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ Mujahid, ` Ikrimah, Suddiyy and some others among them, have said that this injunction was operative during the early period of Islam when the law of the distribution of spoils which is going to appear in the fifth section of this very verse was yet to be revealed - because there spoils as a whole have been left at the discretion of the Holy Prophet ﷺ who was to dispose them off as he wished.
The detailed injunctions which appear later enjoin that one-fifth of the entire spoils should be deposited in the Bayt al-Mal (Treasury of the Muslim State) to cover the needs of common Muslims, and the remaining four-fifth should be distributed among Jihad participants under a particular law the details of which appear in authentic Ahadith. This detailed statement abrogated the first verse of Surah Al-Anfal - and some respected elders have stated that there is no case of abrogation at this place. Instead, the difference here is that of brevity and detail. The first verse of Surah Al-Anfal is brief with its details appearing in verse 41. However, Fai' property the injunctions about which have been taken up in Surah Al-Hashr (59) has been placed totally at the disposal of the Holy Prophet ﷺ who may act as he wishes at his discretion. Therefore, when describing the injunctions at that place, it has also been said: وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانتَهُوا (that is, and what the Messenger gives you take it, and what he stops you from leave it - 59:7).
These details tell us that 'spoils' refers to properties which are obtained through Jihad confrontation, and Fai' properties are what is obtained without fighting and killing in Jihad. As for the word: al-Anfal, it is used for both, whether the sense be general or particular, and it is also used for the reward which is bestowed by the Commander-in-Chief of Jihad on a Ghazi (living Muslim warrior of a victorious Jihad force).
In this connection, there are four forms of giving awards to Ghazies in Jihad which date back to the blessed times of the Holy Prophet ﷺ :
1. That it is proclaimed that whoever kills an adversary will become the owner of properties obtained from the soldier killed by him. This property will just not be deposited with the rest of the spoils.
2. That a group is taken out from the larger army and is sent on Jihad to a particularly targeted area with the orders that the spoils obtained from that area will belong to the particular group sent there - subject to the obligation that one-fifth of the property thus obtained will be deposited in Bayt al-Mal (Treasury of the Muslim State) to be used to cover the needs of common Muslims.
3. That a particular Ghazi is given something out of the one-fifth of spoils deposited in the Bayt al-Mal in return for his distinct achievement by the Amir of Jihad under his discretion.
4. That a certain portion from the entire spoils is set aside to be given as reward to the serving cadre of the Jihad force, such as those who attend to the horses of Mujahidin and help them with their chores. (Ibn Kathir)
The substance of the verse is: Addressing the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، Allah Ta` ala has said: People ask you about the spoils. You tell them that the spoils are for Allah and the Messenger, that is, no one holds a claim on them, or is their owner. Whatever the Messenger of Allah decides under the command of Allah Ta` ala shall be the operative law.
Unity among People is Based on Taqwa
In the last sentence of the verse, it was said: فَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ وَأَصْلِحُوا ذَاتَ بَيْنِكُمْ ۖ وَأَطِيعُوا اللَّـهَ وَرَسُولَهُ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ (So, fear Allah, and set your relations right, and obey Allah and His Messenger, if you are believers). This is addressed to the Companions of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . The reference is to what happened at the battle of Badr when the noble Companions ؓ had differed among themselves about the distribution of spoils and which posed the danger that their mutual relations may become strained. Through this verse, Allah Ta` ala has Himself settled the matter of the distribution of spoils. Now, they are to retrain- their hearts for the better and set their relations right. The core of the method proposed is Taqwa, the fear of Allah, the sense of being responsible before Him.
Experience bears out that under the active influence of a heart filled with the fear of Allah and 'Akhirah, major disputes get resolved in no time and deep-rooted hatreds evaporate in thin air.
Therefore, after proposing the method of Taqwa in this verse, it was said: أَصْلِحُوا ذَاتَ بَيْنِكُمْ , of that is, 'set your relations right' through Taqwa.
After that, it was further explained by saying: إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ (and obey Allah and His Messenger, if you are believers) that is, the obedience to Allah and the Messenger should be total and perfect, if you are believers. In other words, 'Iman (faith) demands I to ah (obedience) and Itaah (obedience) is the outcome of Taqwa (the fear of Allah). When people become the practitioners of these virtues, their mutual disputes shall stand resolved automatically and hearts shall be filled with love rather than hostility.
